A former employee of Valentine Independent School District in Texas has been taken into custody for allegedly engaging in fraud and theft of federal funding designated for the district. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced that Ernesto Villarreal, a 42-year-old from Marfa, is facing charges for using school-issued credit cards to make unauthorized purchases for personal gain, as per a press release.
Reports indicate that Villarreal, formerly the business manager and tax assessor/collector for the district, exploited his access to manipulate payroll data, diverting payments to himself. Court documents outline an extensive pattern in which Villarreal allegedly used these funds to cover expenses ranging from home improvements and travel to university tuition. He now faces the prospect to potentially serve lengthy prison sentences, up to 10 years for the count of federal funding theft and up to 20 years for each count of wire fraud.
The indictment details that Villarreal used district credit cards for a variety of personal transactions including hotel stays, hardware store shopping, and even his mobile phone bills. The authorities also claim he meddled with the direct deposit information of employees and former employees, rerouting their payroll money to his personal accounts, hence committing wire fraud.
Investigations by the FBI, alongside the Texas Rangers and the Department of Education Office of Inspector General, are ongoing. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza announced the arrest, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Greenbaum is in charge of the prosecution. Villarreal's indictment emphasizes the presumption of innocence until guilt is sufficiently proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
